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dietcokefiend posted:Wish I could get a thermal photo cause the toilet in hotel I'm staying at in Austin is plumbed incorrectly. Felt oddly warm sitting on the can and when flushed it had the aroma that only poo being cooked can give off. Water feed is actually the hot water tap. That happened from time to time in the dorm I lived in freshman year. Usually the water was normal, but sometimes the cold lines became hot for reasons beyond my understanding. They never said anything about it and it usually was back to normal within a day. Sure is weird to have a steaming toilet, but drat did that ever make for great showers.
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Nov 5, 2014 18:04
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, the sink is hot water and hotter water.
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wolrah posted:That happened from time to time in the dorm I lived in freshman year. Usually the water was normal, but sometimes the cold lines became hot for reasons beyond my understanding. They never said anything about it and it usually was back to normal within a day. Sure is weird to have a steaming toilet, but drat did that ever make for great showers. Probably has to do with higher pressure on the hot side than the cold side and a dire lack of check valves.
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Nov 5, 2014 18:27
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So us this is fitting a loose definition of a "crappy" construction tale, but here's one that I think kind of fits. Pretty much my entire family on both sides does flooring. Mostly carpet, but everyone can do tile/hardwood/etc too. Anyway a few of my uncles were doing a big carpet job in a rural area of Nevada. Probably 20+ miles from the nearest town. It was a new construction house, and the plumbing wasn't working yet. One of my uncles had to take a poo poo. gently caress that's kind of a problem, it'd be almost an hour drive to get to town and back on dirt roads. He did the reasonable thing and poo poo into a contractor's bucket they had lying around. To dispose of it he trekked out some yards away from the main house into the desert, and threw it out of the bucket onto the ground. As he was walking away, probably 10 seconds later from what I was told, he looked over, and the owner's two German Shepherds were  eating his poo poo.
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Nov 5, 2014 19:07
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To the contrary, I think that is actually a rather precisely literal definition of a crappy construction tale.
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Nov 5, 2014 19:16
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Years ago I did finish hardware in new residential apartment/condo construction and you quickly learned to ignore and not kick or disturb boxes laying in closets. People would just poo poo in whatever empty box they found on site and leave it in the closet, because walking down 2 or 3 flights of stairs to the porto-john was too much work. Soda and gatorade bottles full of piss too. Made for a delightful smell in the summer heat.
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Nov 5, 2014 19:31
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Gunjin posted:Years ago I did finish hardware in new residential apartment/condo construction and you quickly learned to ignore and not kick or disturb boxes laying in closets. People would just poo poo in whatever empty box they found on site and leave it in the closet, because walking down 2 or 3 flights of stairs to the porto-john was too much work. Soda and gatorade bottles full of piss too. Made for a delightful smell in the summer heat. I know a guy who works in manufacturing with a company that does serious cleanroom manufacturing. Like, ET-style bunny suits and such. One of their VPs sent out an email to the company asking people to stop leaving bottles of piss in the room they dress up/dress down in. Lazy bums didn't want to go through the whole process when they needed to piss. He's also seen people barf inside of their bunny suits, which is pretty hilarious.
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Nov 5, 2014 22:48
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deimos posted:Probably has to do with higher pressure on the hot side than the cold side and a dire lack of check valves. The other thing that can happen: some retrofit "instant hot water" systems actually push hot water that's slightly cooled into the cold line to make room for new, hot water. That's another reason hotels/high rises often have warm "cold" water. Or long runs of hot water pipe next to cold water pipe with no insulation can act like a heater.
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Nov 5, 2014 23:14
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A friend of mine just moved into a new apartment. There are a few questionable things here and there, mainly little issues like poorly patched drywall and a bent window frame that lets cold air in (and you can actually see light through). I was over there earlier and noticed an extension cord running from the kitchen to the laundry area, I asked what it was and he said it was there when he moved in to power the washer / dryer(?). Then I noticed this:  You can see the copper. Did I mention this runs along the floor in the porch which is sure to be wet all winter long? There also isn't a fire extinguisher.
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Nov 6, 2014 05:29
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Wow. I think the NEC actually allows you to straight up kill a man or a lady for that.
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Nov 6, 2014 07:15
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canyoneer posted:I know a guy who works in manufacturing with a company that does serious cleanroom manufacturing. Like, ET-style bunny suits and such. At most places where I've worked in full Class 10 garb, getting caught with bodily fluids outside the grey area is immediate dismissal. I work for a capital equipment vendor and was scrambled to Samsung in Hwaesong some years back to fix some problems with a first article install. I got there after flying the wrong way around the world on about 3 hours sleep and proceeded to work an 12 hour shift fixing things. I came down with some awful flu but had to go back in every day for the next week. Puking in your bunny suit is awful, but cleaning it up without anyone noticing so you don't get kicked out of the fab is worse. Even keeping your nose from running is awful. Bunny suits aren't awful, but if you aren't feeling well, they're the worst.
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Nov 7, 2014 03:42
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Tim Thomas posted:At most places where I've worked in full Class 10 garb, getting caught with bodily fluids outside the grey area is immediate dismissal. Wait they'd fire you for having fluids inside the suit? What about if you sweat, or, you know, open your mouth at all?
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Nov 7, 2014 04:43
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This isn't in line with the thread, but probably the right place to ask: How do you guys find good contractors? I've recently purchased a house. The wall between my kitchen and living room offends me, so I want to get rid of it and replace it with an island. I think its a pretty standard update, but I want to make sure whoever does it does things right so I don't have to deal with problems later on.
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Nov 7, 2014 05:46
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iceslice posted:This isn't in line with the thread, but probably the right place to ask: Check references, and ask to see some of their work. Talk to the people they did work for, don't just take their word for it. I don't know where you are but if you're in the US I can probably find somebody reputable in your area, but you'd still want to do your homework.
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Nov 7, 2014 06:02
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iceslice posted:How do you guys find good contractors? I've recently purchased a house. The wall between my kitchen and living room offends me, so I want to get rid of it and replace it with an island. I think its a pretty standard update, but I want to make sure whoever does it does things right so I don't have to deal with problems later on. I don't know how to find good contractors. My best advice is to learn as much as you can about what the job entails, to give you a better shot of being able to tell if the guys you hired are doing it properly. For that specific job, you should figure out if the wall in question is load-bearing or not. Not all walls can be removed, unfortunately. If it is load bearing, it's still possible you could remove it, but you'd probably have to reinforce the ceiling (e.g. by putting in a steel beam).
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Nov 7, 2014 06:03
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Oh, even if you're a total layman, a good guy will be able to explain in terms you understand what they'll be doing. Not like, "I'm going to double-posthole ten eight point five lags on this sheathing with a granny." but, "We'll add support here to carry this load here, because that's where the roof sits."
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Nov 7, 2014 06:06
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http://www.angieslist.com/
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Nov 8, 2014 06:21
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Someone here made the point that angieslist reviewers are largely reviewing work they dont understand, so take that into consideration. Still value there though.
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Nov 9, 2014 15:09
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Mercury Ballistic posted:Someone here made the point that angieslist reviewers are largely reviewing work they dont understand, so take that into consideration. Still value there though. I don't know if it was here that I've made that point, but I've brought it up on several occasions. The most you're going to get out of an angieslist review of a contractor is whether the person who likely doesn't know how to do any of this stuff liked the price, visual result and how well the guy cleaned up after himself at the end of each day. You aren't going to know that your bathroom remodel was done with the wrong materials/wrong methods until the rot in the walls starts breaking through 6 or 7 years later. The absolute best way to find contractors is the same way you find good lawyers: talk to one that is outside of that specialty buy works with or uses the specialty you need on their jobs. Ask who they would trust to use on their jobs/in their own house. Chances are good you know someone who knows a local contractor, or at least a building inspector who is also going to have a pretty good idea of who knows what they are doing in your area. Then do your homework and check public records to see how many civil suits they've had against them and how many mechanics liens they've put on people's properties.
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Nov 9, 2014 16:11
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:Wait they'd fire you for having fluids inside the suit? What about if you sweat, or, you know, open your mouth at all? I have to occasionally don and doff anti-contamination PPE for nuclear material (just a precaution but you don't gently caress with radiological contamination). One of the things they tell you is if you are wearing a non waterproofed material and you sweat inside it, you should notify your radiological control people because a wet piece of fabric will be able to pass contamination through the material. If their PPE is not rated for fluids they may have a contamination risk without having an actual breach in the suit.
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Nov 9, 2014 16:34
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My place was built by an idiot. Starting with the bathroom: The decorative plywood frame around the bathroom ran on top of the normal walls and was randomly stuffed with pink insulation and torn up cardboard acoustic panels. There was not a single vapor barrier or piece of water resistant drywall to be found. Amazingly, only a few insulation bits and cardboard had mold on them, and a few bits of wood under the tub were damaged. That might have had more to do with the bathroom never being used because the tub is about 100 gallons full and the water heater holds 40 gallons.  Also the drain ran uphill.  Who needs special light fixtures for a bathroom? Let's just stuff some living room halogens up there with whatever pink insulation was still lying around.  By the time I got to the glue covered toilet paper being used as filler between the tub and wall I didn't care anymore. 
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Nov 10, 2014 00:21
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That sounds familiar. We had a mysterious leak about 6 months ago it took ages to pin down... Turns out that when our previous owners had removed a mini-sink from the toilet room (which in our flat is separate from the bathroom, weird), they had left the connection in place for the drain (I guess replacing the whole run with a straight pipe would have been way too much work, I'd've done the same in their place). What they did which I would NOT have done, is plugged the open drain with... a plastic bag loosely filled with toilet paper. There was a clog further down the run, and as a result of the above, instead of coming out the bath drain or the sink air vent (which seems to do nothing more than flood the cabinet in the event of a clog >.<), grey water came out inside the tiled-over plywood boxwork around the capped-off pipe. Boxwork which was tiled in behind OTHER boxwork such that I had to break two tiles, remove a whole bunch, and attack the ply with a jab saw to get it out and discover the disgustingness. My loving POs are a pain in the arse. This isn't the worst they've left us with. I plugged the open drain with a proper cap. Still haven't replaced the boxwork, though. The more I do in this flat the more convinced I become that the best solution would be to tear it all down to bare concrete and star from scratch with proper plumbing and wiring. And flooring. And plastering. And no asbestos. I didn't take photos though; I should have.
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Nov 10, 2014 00:38
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krysmopompas posted:Also the drain ran uphill.
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Nov 10, 2014 08:36
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Nitrox posted:Where we going, we don't need traps I'm capping it off regardless since a 1k sqft place for 2 people doesn't need 2 full bathrooms.
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Nov 10, 2014 09:48
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Not really a "Crappy Construction Tale" but more of a "check the history of that foreclosure you're planning to flip" tale: http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31982-florida-man-buys-foreclosure-finds-dead-body-inside ...regardless, he's going to need new carpets.
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Nov 10, 2014 15:41
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krysmopompas posted:There may be a trap under the concrete, since this was once upon a time a shower/restroom area for a factory, and the builder was probably lazy and reused the existing plumbing. However it stinks like sewer gas, but that might be because it's been vacant for over a year and all the water has evaporated. My house was built in 1925 as a working man's shack: 20x20 box, four rooms and as far as I can tell no plumbing. The only bathroom is a 10x10 addition off to the side with a roof that slopes down to six feet. When I moved in (and before I learned much about construction), I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get rid of that that horrible smell. Sure enough, nothing in this house has traps. I've had one added to the tub and replaced all the bathroom plumbing with PEX. My house has all sorts of crappy construction I should document. It was actually maintained pretty well for most of it's history but then the flipper I bought it from got a hold of it. On the inside, he never met a problem quarter round couldn't solve. To add a bedroom, he closed in the garage, put in a floor which is supported but 4x4's resting on the slab, and ran the T1-11 siding down to the dirt. Then he trimmed out the exterior with MDF which is starting to swell. I rip it off as it looks bad but I really need to replace all the siding which is old T1-11 over brittle board and batten. Or very old vinyl on the gables. But while I'm doing that I should also replace the windows which are single paned aluminum from the 70s. And maybe get the foundation which is cinder blocks and shims replaced. And fix the skirting which is a combination of cement backer board and hardie soffit. At least the 50+ year old metal roof is still good. (:no jinx:)
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Nov 10, 2014 16:20
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There's probably no reason to remove the T1-11. Just cut it up from the ground as appropriate and leave the rest to use it as your sheathing. It's just plywood with grooves in it....so no need to start from scratch. Just put some housewrap over it and add new siding.
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Nov 10, 2014 17:44
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Motronic posted:There's probably no reason to remove the T1-11. Just cut it up from the ground as appropriate and leave the rest to use it as your sheathing. It's just plywood with grooves in it....so no need to start from scratch. Just put some housewrap over it and add new siding. I've considered it although some of the T1-11 is a little rotten at the bottom. And the old board and batten is really crispy. I want to restore the house to board and batten and it'll mean really thick walls: board & batten, felt, T1-11, wrap, furring strips, new boards. But if I'm doing windows and the front door at the same time, I can adjust the trim too. I've spent the weekend reframing an opening for a new wall a/c and here's a pic of the inside of the wall. (the old a/c had dripped into the wall so I tore out the damp drywall and insulation) Doing anything to old houses always takes four times as long as it should, nothing is standard and everything was cobbled together with an assortment of screws and nails. 
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Nov 10, 2014 19:47
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krysmopompas posted:There may be a trap under the concrete, since this was once upon a time a shower/restroom area for a factory, and the builder was probably lazy and reused the existing plumbing. However it stinks like sewer gas, but that might be because it's been vacant for over a year and all the water has evaporated. I'm curious how you came to be living in a factory.
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Nov 10, 2014 20:00
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FISHMANPET posted:I'm curious how you came to be living in a factory. The building was originally lightbulb factory built in the 50s and ran until the Loma Prieta quake hit. It was abandoned for a while, then some guy bought it in the mid-90s and probably probably used it for raves or something. Whatever it was involved significant amounts of drugs, because around 2000 he started designing and building out individual units which had a lot of features that were both nonsensical and completely halfassed. He'd live in one, sell it, then move on to the next. Nearly everyone in the building has completely renovated their units. Mine was the last one to be built and sold, which happened right at the peak of the housing bubble. The PO lost everything before having a chance to do any work to make it more livable, so now it's my problem.
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Nov 10, 2014 21:23
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I think I've mentioned in this thread that I used to live in a warehouse that was converted into lofts. Krysmopompas' story got me to look it up, and it turns out the place actually was a paper factory, originally built in the 20s. I wonder how common factory-turned-loft apartments are in this area? Mine was in the shittiest part of Oakland, on the wrong side of multiple train tracks. I think my "favorite" thing about that place were the bare floorboards painted glossy beige, with tin can lids nailed down to cover the knotholes. 
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Nov 11, 2014 01:47
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Mizufusion posted:I think I've mentioned in this thread that I used to live in a warehouse that was converted into lofts. Krysmopompas' story got me to look it up, and it turns out the place actually was a paper factory, originally built in the 20s. I wonder how common factory-turned-loft apartments are in this area? Mine was in the shittiest part of Oakland, on the wrong side of multiple train tracks. Loft conversions seem incredibly common here - http://www.eastbaymodern.com/oakland-lofts.php (and that doesn't cover any of the rentals or the lower-end properties.) It's a great place to be if you like this sort of thing, and that's why I'm here.
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Nov 11, 2014 03:17
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We have the opposite problem at work. The building we're in now was originally built to be some kind of storefront or small warehouse or something, the building's metal frames and metal siding and metal roof etc. But the part of the building my company is in has... a kitchen... and a full bathroom with shower and dual sinks... and a goddamn fireplace in what is now the CEO's office. Turns out the previous owner was living there illegally for so long he renovated an entire chunk of the building into a house. He also did it terribly so there's rot everywhere, the wiring is bizarre and shredded in many places, stuff like that. The current owner (we rent) insists on using his incompetent handyman to fix everything so we get hacked fixes like a literal hole punched in the wall through to the outside so he could run a single cable. Not drilled, punched, like he chipped it out. You can see light coming in, and water comes in when it rains hard enough. Oh and there's a giant roll-up metal door where the original guy put in a garage by just putting up some drywall that doesn't quite go to the ceiling, so now we have a "garage" that's just a big chunk of the office that's been cordoned off. We use it to store junk; I imagine if we put a car in there it would kill us all from carbon monoxide pretty quickly. We're moving at the end of the year, but the new building is in the "historic" district which means it will probably have even more fun problems. It's not even a cool brick building either it's just a lame storefront. Oh well. Shame Boy fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Nov 11, 2014 |
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Nov 11, 2014 17:35
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krysmopompas posted:Cotton Mill Studios? That's all I can think of that fits that description. It's a beautiful building with nice brick, old wood (when it isn't painted over) and tons of space. I'd love to live there, but I felt like it was a bunker when I visited though. No, Cotton Mill actually looks kind of nice. My place was off of 880/High St, and directly across the street from a concrete recycling facility.
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Nov 12, 2014 02:11
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A crappy construction tale from one possible future: my dad wants to do our propane tank and fireplace insert installation himself. 
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Nov 13, 2014 00:03
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atomicthumbs posted:A crappy construction tale from one possible future: my dad wants to do our propane tank and fireplace insert installation himself. Remind him to put the tank over the fireplace, since propane flows better when it's warm.
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Nov 13, 2014 00:29
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atomicthumbs posted:A crappy construction tale from one possible future: my dad wants to do our propane tank and fireplace insert installation himself. if he's even reasonably competent with plumbing and pressure tests the install, how is this a problem? Gas work is not some voodoo science.
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Nov 14, 2014 17:12
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Dirty Beluga posted:if he's even reasonably competent with...voodoo science. And that's the problem with 95% of these crappy construction tales.
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Nov 14, 2014 18:44
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Having some insulation work done in my attic. Used to have knob & tube wiring, and some of it's still hanging around, so they required an electrician to sign-off that none was still active. Electrician comes in, and as I assumed, none of the knob & tube was active. Unfortunately, after digging around in the celluose insulation, we found out that whoever did that replacement didn't believe in junction boxes. Just wire-splices with a nut buried in the insulation. So I go about fixing all of those. Of course there is no slack in any of the wires. Got everything back together, and everything works except the front porch. Apparently, I tugged the other end loose from the fixture, since the fixture was screwed directly to the ceiling, didn't have a junction box, and of course didn't have any way of anchoring the wire. After pulling a new length there and doing it right, wife was happy that she got a pretty new porch fixture out of the deal. Also... if you live in MA, do one of these energy audits - http://www.masssave.com/ They're paying for most of the insulation for me. I bet other states have similar things?
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Nov 14, 2014 19:43
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Gounads posted:
Even if you don't wanna pay for anything, they'll come in for free and replace all of your incandescent bulb with CFLs. They got me a 0% loan to upgrade my boiler to a high efficiency unit. Sadly, they wouldn't touch the insulation because it's vermiculite and could be asbestos contaminated.
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Nov 14, 2014 21:15
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I'm pretty sure the guy told me if I had vermiculite, they'd pay for most of the removal.
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Nov 14, 2014 22:09
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